Wire-stretching apparatus



L. A. AND L. R. RIDDLE. WIIRE snmcmwe APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-13,1919.

1,392,079, PatentedSept. 27, 1921.

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WIRE STRETCHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man NOV-13,1919.

Patented Sept. 27, 1921.

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LOG-AN A. RIDDLE D LYON R. RIDDLE, OF NEW ALBANY, INDIANA.

WIRE-STRETCHING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 27, 19%

Application filed November 13, 1919. Serial No. 337,770.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LOGAN A. RIDDLE and LYON R. RIDDLE, citizens of the United States, residing at New Albany, in the county of Floyd and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ire-Stretching Apparatus; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in wire stretching apparatus, and consists of a simple and efficient mechanism of this nature having various details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings and then specifically defined in the appended claim.

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, with the numerals of reference marked thereon, form a part of this application, and in which:

Figure 1 is atop plan View of the stretcher.

Fig. 2 is an edge view.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 4= of Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of two of the bars adapted to be pivoted together.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail perspective view of a part of the invention, and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 77 of Fig. 2.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by numerals 1 designates a fence post, and 2 are two line wires to be stretched and held by suitable staples 3 when the wires are drawn taut. The device of my invention includes two pairs of clamp carrying members, in this instance formed as bars 5, 5, overlapping at one end thereof and pivotally connected at this end by a pin 6. The free ends of the two bars of each pair are connected by a flexible member such as a wire 7, and a second flexible member, such as a wire 8, connects the pair of wires 7,7. A hook 9 is engageable with the wire 8 and is pivotally supported on a pin 10 connected to the adjacent ends of the stretcher bars 11, as shown clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawings. A ratchet bar 12 has teeth 13 upon the opposite edges thereof and is longitudinally slotted as at 14 to receive a pin 15 which is fastened to the ends of the bars 11. A handle 16 is pivotally connected to the pin 15, and said handle is slotted to receive the ratchet bar 12, as shown clearly in Fig. l of the drawings.

Mounted to have a yielding movement within recesses 17 of said handle are pivotal pins 18 each having a lug 19 projecting therefrom over which the adjacent ends of the coiled springs 20 are mounted, the other ends of the springs bearing against the bottoms of the recesses 17. Said pins project through slots 16', 16 in the side walls of the recess 17.

A pair of clamping members 21, contour of one of which is shown at Fig. 6 of the drawing, are carried by the two pairs of bars 5. Said members 21 are formed .as bars and have beveled ends 22 to which the caps 21 are suitably secured and from each cap projects a pin 23. The pins 23 are adapted to project through said bars 5 and cotter pins 26, passing through the projecting ends of the pins 23, hold the bars 22 with the inclined ends thereof in contact with the adjacent side braces of the two pairs of bars 5, as shown at Fig. 2.

In operation, the wire 27 connected to the end of the ratchet bar 12, opposite to the end connected to the hook 9, is secured to a stationary member, such as a tree, and the fence wires 2 are caught between the adjacent clamping faces of the bars 21, as shown clearly in Fig. 3 of the drawings. By pulling upon the wire 8 the ends of the bars 5 are forced toward each other, consequently clamping themembers 21, 21 against the wires 2, 2. Said wires are stretched by a back and forth swinging movement of the handle 16. As the handle 16 is given a back and forth swinging movement, one of the pins 18 will beheld by the spring in engagement with a ratchet tooth on one side of the bar 12, while the otherpin 18 will ride upon the inclined surface of a ratchet tooth upon the opposite side, and when atthe end of the said tooth the spring engaging this pin will cause the latter to catch on the next adjacent tooth, and in which it will be fulcrumed as the handle is swung back, and this alternate movement will give a step by step forward movement to the stretching" bars which are pivoted to the lever. The greater the pull upon the stretching bar, the tighter the line wires will be gripped, as will be readily understood.

What we claim to be new is:

A wire stretcher comprising a pair of jaw structures inclined to one another each comprising hinged members having perforations intermediate the hinge and the extremities, gripping members having beveled ends with trunnions extending longitudinally beyond such beveled ends, said trunnions being seated in the perforations, means retaining the trunnions in the perforatlons, means con necting the extremities of the jaw members 15 In testimony whereof we hereunto affix 20 our signatures.

LOGAN A. RIDDLE. LYON R. RIDDLE. 

